CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mountaineer Gas Senior Vice President Moses Skaff said Monday the utility will be on Charleston’s West Side for “months” in connection with a gas service interruption that began Nov. 10 when the break of a West Virginia American Water line sent water throughout its gas distribution system.
Skaff said service is now once again available to 100% of Mountaineer Gas’ customers but he said the utility has no plans on leaving the impacted area.
“We are going to be continually canvassing the area for leaks,” Skaff said Monday on MetroNews “Talkline.” “We are going to keep knocking on doors to re-inspect.”
Approximately 100 customers are pending inspection due to customer availability. Skaff said they have tried to several times to reach those homeowners and hope to be able to do so in the coming days.
“We now have gas to 100 percent to all of our customers, to their meters,” Skaff said.
The gas line flood impacted 46-miles of Mountaineer’s lines that crisscross the West Side. Mountaineer Gas crews and contractors have done inspections and work on damaged residential lines for hundreds of customers.
Skaff said again on Monday that furnaces, stoves and hot water tanks have been replaced. He didn’t yet have a final number. He said in some cases a damaged furnace may be repaired for now and then replaced in the near future.
“We are giving the customers the option. In some cases, we can get them up and running and then if we need to come back and put a new one in later, we can do that as well. We are working all angles on it,” Skaff said.
The in-home repairs, which are usually the responsibility of the homeowner, have been expensive, according to Skaff, but he said it’s a cost Mountaineer Gas decided to take on to get its customers back on as quickly as possible.
“At this point and time, Mountaineer Gas is taking all of that expense on. As for who finally pays for it at the end of the day, that’s to be determined,” Skaff said.
The state Public Service Commission has started an investigation into the water main break and the flooding of the gas lines. Both Mountaineer Gas and West Virginia American Water have said they are cooperating.
The outage may come up during a Tuesday hearing before the PSC on a separate Mountaineer case. A one day evidentiary hearing is scheduled in the case filed by the gas company in July for a $6.5 million increase in its infrastructure replacement and expansion program.